UK virtual events firm Hopin valued at $5.65bn after raising $400m

A screen grab of Hopin's software

Credit: Hopin/Hopin

Hopin, a British virtual events provider, has raised $400m (£286m) in a round that included two of America’s best-known tech investors.

Venture capital firms Andreessen Horowitz and General Catalyst have led the Series C funding round into the firm alongside existing investor IVP.

Returning investors including Tiger Global, Salesforce Ventures, and Coatue also joined the round, which has now valued the firm at $5.65bn.

The London-headquartered firm, which was founded less than two years ago has designed a host of tools to help bring the in-person events experience online.

Among the features designed by Hopin is the ability for organisers to host live talks and Q&As while attendees can also engage in conference-style “speed dating”.

The new round follows on from a further $125m it raised in November, which came shortly after another round last June when it attracted $40m from investors. The young company has already raised more than $565m.

Hopin has excelled throughout the pandemic as curtailed business travel and shuttered events halls brought in-person conferences to a standstill.

The company said it has added 30,000 customers since its last raise in November, with American Express, Hewlett Packard, and Poshmark among them.

Johnny Boufarhat, the chief executive and founder of Hopin, said the company was building a portfolio of products to build the “future” of live video collaboration.

“As we’ve seen, the importance of providing unparalleled virtual and hybrid event experiences has never been greater and this latest funding is a reflection of how critical it is as brands look for ways to connect with people and avenues of growth,” he said.

“To enable this, we are investing more in video innovation, the core medium of digital collaboration.”

Mr Boufarhat said the company was “incredibly appreciative” of the confidence from its investors.

Sriram Krishnan, a general partner at Andreessen Horowitz, will join Hopin’s board of directors.

“Hopin’s leadership team brings together business, event and software expertise that puts them in a unique position to dramatically transform the way we connect and interact with each other through events,” he said.

“We believe that Hopin is the leader in this space and couldn’t be more excited to partner with the team on their bold vision.”

The company will use the funds to scale its operations, headcount, and software to meet the demand of its growing customer base. Hopin’s staff has grown from six to more than 400 since the beginning of 2020.